--We don't regard a man of our kind as refuted by his vices, nor by his tomfooleries. We are well aware that we are not recognised with ease, and that we have every reason to make our foreground very prominent. 944. _What is noble?_--The fact that one is constantly forced to be playing a part. That one is constantly searching for situations in which one is forced to put on airs. That one leaves happiness to the _greatest number:_ the happiness which consists of inner peacefulness, of virtue, of comfort, and of Anglo-angelic-back-parlour-smugness, _à la_ Spencer. That one instinctively seeks for heavy responsibilities. That one knows how to create enemies everywhere, at a pinch even in one's self. That one contradicts the _greatest number,_ not in words at all, but by continually behaving differently from them. 945. Virtue (for instance, truthfulness) is _our_ most noble and most dangerous luxury. We must not decline the disadvantages which it brings in its train. 946. We refuse to be _praised:_ we do what serves our purpose, what gives us pleasure, or what we are obliged to do. 947. What is chastity in a man? It means that his taste in sex has remained noble; that _in eroticis_ he likes neither the brutal, the morbid, nor the clever. 948. The concept of honour is founded upon the belief in select society, in knightly excellences, in the obligation of having continually to play a part. In essentials it means that one does not take one's life too seriously, that one adheres unconditionally to the most dignified manners in one's dealings with everybody (at least in so far as they do not belong to "us"); that one is neither familiar, nor good-natured, nor hearty, nor modest, except _inter pares_; that one is _always playing a part._ 949. The fact that one sets one's life, one's health, and one's honour at stake, is the result of high spirits and of an overflowing and spendthrift will: it is not the result of philanthropy, but of the fact that every danger kindles our curiosity concerning the measure of our strength, and provokes our courage. 950. Eagles swoop down straight nobility of soul is best revealed by the magnificent and proud foolishness with which it makes its _attacks._ 951. War should be made against all namby-pamby ideas of _nobility_!--A certain modicum of brutality cannot be dispensed with: no more than we can do without a certain approximation to criminality. "Self-satisfaction" must _not_ be allowed; a man should look upon himself with an adventurous spirit; he should experiment with himself and run risks with himself--no beautiful soul-quackery should be tolerated. I want to give _a more robust ideal_ a chance of prevailing. 952. "Paradise is under the shadow of a swordsman"--this is also a symbol and a test-word by which souls with noble and warrior-like origin betray and discover themselves. 953.